Mass Effect: Awakening
by Disturbed318
Summary: O.C. insert told from third person omniscient. Covers ME1. John Rettinger serves on the SSV Normandy SR-1 as chief engineer when Shepard introduces him to his new subordinate, a quarian named Tali'Zorah. M mostly for swearing, plus mild sexual themes.
1. Prologue

Author Notes: Ok, guys. This is my first fanfic. I'm a huge fan of the Mass Effect series. I loved every minute of it... except the last 15 but that's another issue. Anyway, since ME3 has come and gone for me, I decided to expand the lore a little bit and write a fanfic. I've written stories before, certainly. I've always enjoyed writing. However this is the first time I've ever written a story and put it out in the public. I don't mind constructive criticism. In fact, I welcome it. So please, any thoughts you might have are welcome, so long as they are civil. I'm doing this for your enjoyment, so I'm happy to tweak my writing to make the story better.

Just for clarification; this is essentially a self-insert. I don't tell it from the first person; more of a third person omniscient. I also don't use my real last name, birthday, or other personal details. But the main character is basically a reflection of me, of what I might be like were I in Mass Effect.

So, without further adieu, please read and enjoy.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Chief Engineer John Rettinger stood at his terminal, hard at work on the engines of the SSV Normandy SR-1. It was the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, and John didn't take his job lightly. He was busy tweaking the capacitors to ensure proper discharge of the drive core. It was important work to be sure; if the drive core didn't discharge the static it had built up during FTL travel, it would be disastrous for the ship. But the work was also repetitive and mindless, allowing his mind to wander as he worked. Many thoughts crossed his mind, but the one that came most often was that his family and friends would never have believed any of this.

The year was 2183. John was technically 188 years old, though as far as he was concerned he was only 25. He was born in the year 1998. As he began to think about the last days of his old life, a memory appeared in his mind's eye:

_John sat in the living room of his family's late 20__th__ century house. He was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He couldn't believe the words of the doctor when he told John that he had cancer of the lungs. In that time, the year 2016, cancer was treatable, but no cure existed. The best the doctors could truly do was extend the life of a cancer patient by a few years. Ten at best, so long as the cancer hadn't progressed far by the time it was diagnosed. John was not so lucky. It was basically a death sentence. It weighed heavy on John. He was only 18, barely an adult by legal standards. Yet he already had lung cancer, doomed to die from a disease that was essentially a lump of useless cells. Damn._

_John's family couldn't even afford the expensive chemo and radiation treatments that could extend his life. Could. It wasn't even a guarantee. Fuck. So his family drowns in debt no matter what while he's not even guaranteed much more time? I don't think so, he thought. No matter what I don't want to make this any harder on them than it has to be. So no. No chemo. No radiation. I'll have a hard time convincing them that it's the right thing, though. Damn, this is morbid. But if they spend a bunch of money on treatments, only for me to die in five years anyway, it'll just make it harder on them in the long run. His thoughts were interrupted as his parents came down the stairs._

"_Hey," his dad said gently._

"_Hey," John replied, raising his head to look his parents as they sat down in the living room chairs._

"_How you doing?" Dad asked._

"_Fine. Just… thinking," John answered_

"_About what the doctor said?" Dad asked. John nodded. "I guess we're gonna have to start thinking about scheduling chemo, huh?"_

"_No," John said immediately and defiantly. "I'm not going to make you guys pay for chemo and radiation treatments. It's expensive and I know you're struggling as it is. I won't put you guys in debt up to your eyeballs just so I can die in five or six years instead of two or three."_

"_John!" his mother exclaimed. "Don't think that way!"_

"_What, Mom?" John replied. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat this shit! It would be useless to pour a bunch of money into treating it just to extend my life five years! If even that long. It's not even a guarantee. You heard the doctor. It's already progressed pretty far. It's only a matter of time."_

"_There might be a cure in five years!" Mom responded, the volume of her voice escalating._

"_They've been working on a cure for decades!" said John, unintentionally raising his voice as well. "They're not even close to one now! You really think that they're gonna come up with one in five years?"_

_At those words John's mother broke into tears. She threw her arms around his dad and hugged him as she cried. Damn it. He knew this wasn't going to be easy._

_He sighed. "Look Mom, I'm sorry to upset you. I really am. You don't think I'm upset? I'm just trying to make it as easy on you guys as possible. And trying to be all optimistic and shit about it is only going to make it harder in the long run. If we spend money on a bunch of chemo treatments and stuff only for me to die in five years… well then I'm gone AND you two are drowning in debt. So I don't care what you say. I'm 18 so I can choose for myself. I'm not getting any treatments. At least then you don't have a bunch of fucking medical bills once I'm gone."_

_His dad looked at him with a look of great sadness, but with a hint of hope. "John," he said. "Have you thought about the other option the doctor mentioned?"_

_John blinked. "No I hadn't, actually. I don't know, I guess it just seemed so outlandish that I didn't even consider it. It's almost like sci-fi. But… if it's true and they can do it…" he trailed off._

_John's mother sniffed. "We can use your college savings to pay for it. I mean, even if it works you probably won't need it," she said._

"_Good idea," John said, beginning to like the idea more and more. "But… even if it works, will I see you, or anybody else I know, ever again?"_

"_Well…" John's dad said. "There's at least a chance."_

_John looked at his parents. He looked at their faces and saw in both of them that they were both upset that it had come to this. But he also saw hope in their faces. Hope that he might live to see them die, instead of vice versa. At that moment, as he looked at the two people who had raised him, he decided exactly what he was going to do._

"And here we are. Welcome to Engineering," John heard a male voice say behind him. He snapped back to reality from his vivid daydream.

"Keelah!" he heard a second voice say excitedly. "I had no idea the drive core was so big!" This one wasn't human, like the first one. It was female and sounded almost synthesized, as if it came from behind a mask or helmet of some kind. Must be a quarian, John thought as he turned around. He saw his CO, Commander Jeremiah Shepard, at the entrance to the engineering platform. With him was a female quarian, as he had guessed. She looked up at the drive core of the spacefaring vessel with a look of what he guessed to be awe and wonder, though he couldn't tell for sure behind the mask. "I've never seen a drive core so large on such a small ship!" she continued, the speech indicator light in front of her mouth lighting up in tandem with her syllables.

"Think you'll be comfortable here?" Shepard asked.

"Comfortable? Are you kidding? I'll be more comfortable than a corrupt volus businessman!" the quarian exclaimed excitedly. She then seemed to think better of speaking to Shepard in that way, and bowed her head slightly, saying, "Um, I mean, yes sir."

John chuckled. He knew the Commander wouldn't care about that. As long as his crew remembered who was in charge and followed orders, formality only bogged everyone down.

Right on cue, Shepard laughed and said, "Tali, there's no need to be that cordial with me. So long as you remember who's in charge and follow orders, formality only bogs us down."

The relief of the quarian, who was apparently named Tali, was evident. Her shoulders relaxed and her head dropped slightly as she sighed. "Thank you," she said to the Commander. Shepard nodded in response. He began to walk toward John, beckoning her to come along. She followed.

"Tali, meet Chief Engineer Rettinger. John, this is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the newest addition to our crew," Shepard said by way of introduction. John offered his hand to the quarian.

"Nice to meet you, Tali," he said as he shook her three-fingered hand. He expected it, but it was still strange to only feel three fingers instead of five.

"You too, uh… May I call you John?" Tali said with some trepidation.

"Yeah, sure. John's fine. Like the Commander said, no need to get bogged down in formality."

"Ok, then," she replied.

"Well," Shepard said. "I've got to get back up to the CIC. Chief, show her where she can be useful. Go ahead and start making sure the ship's ready to fly. We're aweigh in half an hour."

"Yes, sir," John replied with a quick salute. The Commander returned it, then turned and walked out of Engineering.

"So, Tali," he said, attempting to break the ice with his new subordinate. "You were born on the Rayya?"


	2. The Quarian

Author's Notes: Here we are. The first real chapter. Might be a bit short, but I thought it was a good place to end the chapter. Again, let me know what you think and, of course, enjoy.

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><p><strong>The Quarian<strong>

John finished his work on the main engineering terminal. They had been in FTL flight for several hours on their way to Therum to find Matriarch Beneziah's daughter. FTL travel was entirely automated; John had just been checking the systems to ensure everything was optimal. Nothing else really needed to be done. He turned around and saw Tali sitting against the walll of the ship using her omni-tool. She had been there since he had told her she could go get some rest nearly an hour ago. He walked to her and stood over her.

Tali looked up at him. "Oh… sorry am I bothering you by staying here, sir?"

"Oh no, not at all, Tali," John replied. "And you don't have to call me 'sir,' either," he added.

"Okay… John," she said, turning her attention back to her omni-tool.

"Mind if I join you?" John asked.

"No… I… I guess not," Tali replied, looking at him again. She seemed surprised that he would ask. John sat down next to her and leaned his back against the wall. "Um… Was there something you needed to discuss?" Tali asked tentatively. Her lack of confidence was apparent. She was young and had never served on such an advanced ship before. _This must be pretty surreal for her,_ John thought.

"No, nothing in particular," John said. "Just want to chat." He gave her a friendly smile. "I like to know the crew I'm working with. Especially those under my command. Who are you messaging?" John asked, having noticed an extranet message application open on her omni-tool.

"I'm sending a message back to the Migrant Fleet," Tali replied.

"Hm. I should've figured. You have family back on the fleet?"

"Yeah. A father. He serves on the Alerei."

"No mother?"

"No, she…" Tali sighed as she trailed off.

"You don't have to answer that," John said quickly, realizing the question pained her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay. She didn't like to wear her suit all the time when she was on the Rayya. She… Caught an open-air infection when some foreign bacteria got onto the ship. The illness claimed her life, along with many others who were exposed to the air at the time."

"I'm sorry," John said gently.

"It's okay," Tali replied. "What about you? Do you have any family back on Earth?"

John wasn't surprised she knew he had grown up on Earth. He had told her in the short conversation they had when she first came aboard the Normandy.

"No. It's… complicated," he said. He hadn't told anyone except Anderson where he was from. Or, more accurately, when he was from. And he only told Anderson because he had read it in John's file when he selected John to serve on the Normandy. "My parents died a long time ago. They were the only family I ever knew," he continued, giving her a half-truth. She would know in time, as would everyone else on the Normandy. But it was too personal, and he didn't know any of the crew of his new vessel well enough yet to tell them the full story of his origins.

"Oh. I'm… I'm sorry to hear that," Tali replied.

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

"I know, but it's still a shame…" she trailed off. "How did you end up in the Alliance?" That was a question he could answer.

"Well, once my family was gone I didn't really have anything left. I had planned on college, of course, but I had no money. Hell I didn't even have a credit report, so I couldn't get a loan. So, I enlisted. Besides, I always wanted to see the stars, meet some aliens. So I joined up, they screened me, decided I'd be a good engineer, and sent me to tech school. I served on a couple ships before Anderson picked me for his crew when the Normandy was commissioned, and, well you know the rest."

"What other ships have you served on?"

"Well my first posting was on a frigate, the SSV Gettysburg. The first time I saw action was about a month after I graduated from tech academy, when the Gettysburg flew in the first wave of reinforcements against the Skyllian Blitz. During the battle we took a hit from a batarian dreadnought. We'd been taking a barrage and our shields hadn't recovered yet. The batarians just got lucky really. The shot happened to hit our drive core, so we couldn't maintain a mass effect field to sustain orbit and we ended up crash-landed on the surface. Most of us made it out, but I had to fight with the ground forces for three days. Earned a couple commendations there, but of course the only reason the colony was even still standing was because of Shepard."

"Yeah I remember hearing about the Blitz on the news vids. They kept saying that Shepard might be the first human Spectre because of what he did there."

"Sure took 'em long enough. Geez that was seven years ago. It's almost as long as I-" John stopped himself. He very nearly told her where he was really from. Tali tilted her head at the abrupt halt in his speech, but thankfully didn't pursue the issue.

"Yeah, it was a long time ago." Tali paused, unsure how to continue the conversation. After a short silence, she asked, "So, do you ever regret joining up?"

"Not for a second," John replied confidently. "Now, I've got a sense of purpose, when before I had none. A goal, when before I just wandered aimlessly. I've also gotten the opportunity to take part in some of the most important events in human history. Even galactic history. And now I get to run off with a bunch of aliens on the most advanced ship in the galaxy to find the best government agent in the galaxy who has gone rogue and kill him to save every organic being in the galaxy. I love this shit!"

Tali laughed, which pleased John. He was trying to make her feel welcomed and laughter meant she had relaxed a bit. Plus there was something about her laugh that he liked, though he couldn't quite place what it was. He smiled.

"Well, I guess when you put it that way it does sound kinda cool," she said, still chuckling.

"I guess so," said John, now chuckling as well. "Enough about me, though. Tell me some about yourself. I've actually never met a quarian before. Well, I've met them, but I've never had a real conversation with one before."

"There's not much to say, really. I grew up on the Migrant Fleet, just like every other quarian. When I became of age they sent me off on my Pilgrimage and, well you know the rest," Tali said, phrasing the end of her short biography in the same way he had phrased his.

"Oh, come now. There's far more than that. You said you had a father. What's his name?"

"Rael," she answered.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, daughter of Rael'Zorah vas Alarei. I like it."

"Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Alerei, actually," Tali said.

"Oh, even better! You're royalty!" John joked. "And you said there's nothing to say. Nothing my ass."

"Well I wouldn't call it royalty, exactly," said Tali, suppressing a laugh. "I don't get any special treatment."

"I would expect nothing less of the great Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Alarei."

This time Tali couldn't suppress a small giggle. "How come you know so much about quarians?" she asked. "Most people don't even know what our Pilgrimage is. Yet I didn't have to explain it to you. You knew what 'nar' and 'vas' meant, and you even know about our admirals. Next you're going to translate 'keelah se'lai,' something even I don't know!"

"Like I said, I was eager to meet some cool aliens. I've read all of the entries on aliens in my codex, plus whatever I can find on the extranet."

The conversation continued for nearly an hour. Tali told John about the Migrant Fleet, how it was organized and governed. She told him about quarian history, including a brief story on the initial geth uprising, about quarian immune systems and why they wear exo-suits, and a couple of stories from her Pilgrimage before she found the data that incriminated Saren.

John checked the clock on his omni-tool. It displayed an ETA for arrival at the ship's destination, which in this case was Therum.

"Look Tali, it's been great talking with you. I've really enjoyed it. But we're about eight hours out from Therum, so I'm gonna go get some shut-eye. You probably should too." John patted her bent knee as he stood up. "I know keeping the engines running isn't incredibly taxing, but you should still be well-rested. There are gonna be geth ships around the planet, and you never know what might happen."

"Okay, I will soon. And thank you. I've enjoyed it too."

John smiled at her. "Good night, Tali," he said as he turned and left the engine room.

"Night," she replied.

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><p>Tali wished he could see her smile back at him. She never thought she would be sad to end a conversation with a human. He was the first person besides Raan or her mother to actually take a genuine interest in her. Even Shepard, as pleasant as he'd been to her, was only interested in her because she had the data he needed to implicate Saren. She watched John open the door and leave. She turned her attention back to her omni-tool for several minutes as she finished her message to her father. She had made her message sound like an official message to the Fleet on purpose. She didn't want to tell John about what her father was like. At least not yet. It was personal and she didn't know him well enough yet. Tali also suspected that he was hiding something as well. It was apparent in the way he talked about his family. And that abrupt halt in his speech… It was obvious to her that he had nearly given it away but stopped himself.<p>

Tali sat in her spot for several more minutes, contemplating everything. It was so much to take in. She was serving on one of, if not the, most advanced ships in the galaxy, helping to hunt down the most famous and renowned Spectre in the galaxy and his army of geth. And now she had befriended a human. It was overwhelming.

She checked the time on her omni-tool. John was right, she needed some sleep. She pulled herself up from her sitting position and stretched her cramped legs. She then left engineering and got in the elevator in the cargo hold. She pressed the button to bring her up to the crew deck, where Shepard had shown her the sleeper pods. The elevator began to creep up. After a few seconds it stopped and the door slid open to admit her to the crew deck. As she stepped out she heard a voice coming from the mess.

"…about that quarian, cap. She's been asking me all kinds of questions about our engines." She recognized it as John's voice. She stayed behind the elevator, where she could hear but they couldn't see her.

"Is she bothering you? Should I ask her to stop?" Tali heard Shepard say.

"Oh no! No that's not what I meant at all," John responded defensively. "It's great, actually! She's sharp as a tack, Shepard. Give her a month and she'll know more about our drive core than me."

"You better be careful, John. You wouldn't want her to take your job."

John chuckled. "Somehow I doubt the Alliance would approve of you replacing me with an alien, cap"

"I'm a Spectre now, Chief. I only answer to the Council."

"True. But it is still an Alliance ship. It's still the _SSV_ Normandy, so they could probably ask for it back if they wanted."

It was Shepard's turn to chuckle. "Yeah I guess so."

"It was a good call bringing her on board, though," John continued. "I gotta be honest, I don't know if I'd have done it."

"I thought she might be an asset to the team," Shepard said.

"Well you got a real eye for talent, Commander."

"So I presume she's working out well?"

"Oh yeah. Just finished a conversation with her a few minutes ago, actually. She's a nice girl. And she respects the chain of command almost too much. It's kinda funny. Heh, she kept calling me 'sir' like I was gonna blow her out the airlock if she so much as looked at me wrong. I finally told her she didn't have to do that, but she still had trouble calling me by name."

"She's probably just nervous. She hasn't served on a ship outside the flotilla before, and she's young. She'll gain her bearings and relax some."

"Yeah I think you're right." A lull in the conversation ensued where neither said anything. John spoke up, "So what kind of resistance are we expecting on Therum?"

"We're getting reports of geth activity in the star cluster. We don't know if the geth are working for Dr. T'Soni or trying to capture her for Saren. All we know is that there are some geth ships in the Artemis Tau cluster. It would be wise to use the stealth systems as we approach Therum's star," Shepard answered.

"Okay. I'll make sure she's good to go, then. We can only use the emissions sinks for a few hours though, so we might have to scram once you guys are on the surface to vent and then come back when you're ready for extract."

Tali tuned them out, realizing that they were done talking about her. She couldn't believe John thought so highly of her. And here she was thinking she was going to find a lot of racism and pro-human bigotry on an Alliance vessel. Yet she had just heard someone who was likely one of the best engineers in the Alliance praise her wholesale. She couldn't believe it.

"Alright, cap. I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll see you once we're half an hour out or so," John said, shaking Tali from her thoughts.

_Good idea,_ Tali thought. _That's what I came up here to do anyway._ She stepped out from behind the elevator. John and Shepard were both sitting at the mess table. They were on the same side. John was sitting backwards, facing away from the table and leaning back against it. He looked at Tali as she appeared from behind the elevator.

"Hey, Commander. John," she said by way of acknowledgement.

"Oh, hey, Tali," John said. "You going to get some rest?"

"Yeah. I need some sleep," she responded, walking past the mess hall.

"I was about to do the same." John stood up. "Just needed to have a chat with the skipper here first." He stifled a yawn.

"I guess I better go to sleep, too," Shepard said, standing up. "Good night, you two." He walked around the table and toward his cabin, opposite the med bay.

"Night," John responded.

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><p>"Once we drop out of FTL go ahead and engage the emissions sinks. This place is crawling with geth ships," Shepard told John as he worked at his terminal in the engine room.<p>

"Okay. Just make sure Joker decelerates from FTL before we're in range of their sensors. Otherwise they'll know we're here because I can't engage the sinks until we're out of FTL. Not unless you want every ship in this cluster to know we're here," John replied.

"Understood. I'll have Joker tell you when he's about to decelerate." Shepard paused. "Tali," he said, turning to her, "suit up and be ready to go at the Mako in half an hour."

"Yes, sir," Tali responded. John bit his lip. He wasn't sure why, but the thought of Tali deploying with Shepard bothered him. Shepard turned and began to leave the engine room. John didn't want Tali to go with Shepard. He wanted her to stay in engineering with him. _Should I ask him?_ he thought to himself.

"Sir?" John said, though he didn't know why. Oh well, too late now.

"Yes, Chief?" Shepard turned around to face John.

"Um, I… would it be possible for Tali to stay here in engineering? I could use her help keeping the stealth systems monitored for heat overload, as well as diverting combat stress from the drive core, if necessary." John felt stupid for asking. He knew what was coming. He could hear Shepard saying it already. _I need Tali to help with the Mako. I need to evaluate her combat skills._ A hundred different reasons ran through John's mind as Shepard looked at him. John felt hot.

"Oh. Yeah sure. Don't see why not. If you think she'll be helpful then she should probably stay. I'll get Kaidan to come," Shepard said after a brief hesitation.

"Wha- uh, thank you, sir," John stammered. He had no idea why he felt so embarrassed by the request. It was true; Tali would be helpful to have in the engine room while they were near geth ships. Why the hell did he feel so warm, then?

"Sure thing, John." Shepard grinned at him. He winked as he turned around and strode toward one of the engine room doors.

"Oh you would go there! Cheeky bastard!" John called after him. "There's a lot I could say about Ashley," he muttered to himself under his breath as he turned around, still smiling at the Commander's innuendo. He noticed Tali looking at him. Her head was tilted slightly. "Something wrong, Tali?"

"Sometimes I just don't understand humans," she answered, shaking her head slightly as she spoke.

"Yeah, neither do I sometimes."

"So you don't know what that was about either?" Tali asked rhetorically.

"Well no. I do."

"Care to explain?"

"Uh… don't worry about it. Let's just say it's a bit of an… inside joke," John answered, suddenly embarrassed again. Tali shrugged, turning back to her console. "We need to make sure the stealth systems are good to go," John said, eager to change the subject.

"Right. Well the emissions sinks are cooled, obviously. We haven't used them in days. We should probably check the thermal pipes, though."

"Good idea. Go ahead and start rebalancing the rotary adjusters. Joker needs good control, or he could end up accidentally giving us away because he got too close to a geth ship. I'll run the diagnostics on the pipes."

"Gotcha." Both of them began to work at their terminals. They were quiet for several minutes.

"John?" Tali said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Did you really mean that? Do you actually want me here?"

John hesitated. He wasn't sure how best to answer. He decided to simply be honest. "Well… yeah. Tali, you're one of the best engineers I've ever met. You've been on board, what? About a week? Yet I can tell you what I want done and I almost never have to explain it to you. And even when I do I get about two sentences in and you've already got it. Couldn't ask for a better assistant."

Tali seemed flustered by the praise. He hadn't meant to embarrass her, but he meant every word of it. "Wow… Thank you. That… you have no idea what that means to me," she said.

John smiled at her. "You're welcome," he said. Several more minutes of silence ensued.

Tali spoke again, "I have a confession to make.

John raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's that?"

"I… overheard you and Shepard talking about me last night. I'm sorry. I heard my name so I couldn't help but listen."

"Heh, you heard that did you?" It didn't surprise John. He thought he'd heard the elevator long before Tali showed herself. "Well since you heard that, I might as well tell you that I meant every word I said then, too."

Tali was quiet for a long time. She seemed like she was trying to figure out the best way to respond. She lifted her head and was about to speak when Joker's voice came from John's terminal. "We're dropping out of FTL in about ten minutes, guys."

John activated the microphone on the terminal. "Understood, Joker." He let go of the button. "Tali, are the rotary adjusters good?" Tali nodded. John opened the voice channel again. "We're good to go down here whenever you're ready, Joker. Just make sure you're out of range of the geth scanners when we decelerate."

"Roger that," Joker responded. "Joker out."

"Well," John said. "Here goes nothing."


	3. Therum

Author's Notes: My apologies for the long delay between chapters. School has been rearing its ugly head for certain. That, and a severe case of writer's block. Fortunately, I'll be done with school in the next few weeks, so the gap between chapters will hopefully shrink dramatically when that time comes. This chapter was also fairly long, clocking in at around 6200 words. Hopefully it was worth it though, as I have been trying to decide the direction I want to take with this story.

Anyway, this chapter contains some rather non-canon material. For the most part I do plan on sticking to the main overarching story, but there will be some changes to accomodate the direction I'm trying to take with the story. Let me know how I did. I am by no means a professional writer, so I'm learning as I go here.

Finally, in answer to a concern that was brought up in the last chapter, I do plan on giving the other characters some screen time. Though Tali is my favorite character, she is not the only character that I love, so expect some Garrus and company as well.

Now please, read and enjoy. And as usual, comment and let me know how I did.

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><p><strong>Therum<strong>

John worked furiously at his terminal. Tali shook herself. She caught herself watching John work quite frequently. It fascinated her that he worked with such intensity and fervor when the ship was in danger. His focus was unreal. They had dropped the Commander off on Therum just over an hour ago. The ship's stealth systems had been engaged for over two hours and ever since then he had been working with the same vigor at his terminal, never slowing or showing signs of weariness.

Tali turned her attention back to her terminal. She began to work to reduce the emissions of the ship, as she knew John was doing. As the ship vented heat and radiation, byproducts of the ship's helium-3 fusion torches, it was stored in internal sinks inside the ship. However, the sinks had a maximum capacity. If stealth mode was engaged for too long, the radiation would begin venting into the ship and the heat would cook the crew inside the hull. The more the emissions could be reduced, however, the longer the stealth systems could be used. Joker had been moving the ship around a lot since they had engaged the emissions sinks as well, which created more emissions, limiting the time they could stay cloaked. Every little reduction they could get helped.

"Tali," John said suddenly. Tali started at the sound of his voice. John was fairly loud spoken, and he hadn't said anything for nearly an hour. The sudden noise startled her. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," he said, apparently having noticed her jump.

"It's okay. It's just so quiet on this ship and it's been so long since either of us has spoken. Anyway, did you need something?"

"Yeah, can you get me a bottle of water? I'm freakin' thirsty."

"Sure thing." Tali left the engine room and went to the fridge in the corner of the cargo bay, next to the weapons bench. She got a bottle of water and returned to engineering. When she came back John had stopped working and was turned away from his terminal, leaning against it with his arms crossed. Tali handed him the water.

"Thank you," John said to her, taking the water. He unscrewed the cap and took a long drink from the bottle, tilting it upward. He gasped as he lowered the bottle and separated it from his lips. "God, I was thirsty," he said, breathing heavily.

"How are we looking?" Tali asked.

John took another gulp of water before answering. "Not sure to be honest. I mean I've reduced the emissions of the drive core and thrusters as much as possible. There isn't much else we can do. The sinks weren't designed to be used more than five hours in the best of conditions, anyway. But these aren't the best of conditions. Joker's been pulling a lot of maneuvers to avoid geth ships, because, you know, crashing is bad. So that's increased the heat output. I don't see the sinks lasting a third hour before they start venting into the ship."

"You'd better tell Joker that."

"Already did while you were gone. He doesn't think we'll be out of range of the geth scanners by then, but he's trying. We'll vent the sinks when we have to. The Normandy's capable of handling a few geth frigates anyway, it's just we'd rather avoid combat if we can help it. You know." John took another drink of water.

"Yeah. We'll be okay though, I think. You know, I just thought of this. But what is 'Normandy?' Like, what was the ship named after?"

"All Alliance frigates are named after the sites of famous battles on Earth. The Gettysburg, for example, the first ship I served on, was a frigate and it was named after a famous battle during the First American Civil War. This ship is named after a major battle at a place called Normandy. It's a region in France that was invaded by the Axis side at the beginning of the Second World War, and a counteroffensive was launched to take it back from the Germans. The day of the invasion was called D-Day. It marked the beginning of the end of the war, the bloodiest conflict in human history-"

"How many died?" Tali asked. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. You said it was the bloodiest conflict in human history, so I just wondered..."

"That's fine. It's a good question. Anyway, if memory serves me right, the final death toll sat around 60 million. That includes civilians and victims of genocide."

"That's a lot for a single war on one planet."

"I know. That's why they called it a world war. There were two major theaters spanning nearly the entire globe. That's why the D-Day invasion of Normandy was so important. It marked the beginning of the end of the war. From Normandy, the Allies were able to gain a foothold on the continent and push the Axis forces back into Germany and eventually take the German capital and end the war. So we named a ship after it."

"I don't think there were any conflicts on the homeworld that had casualties that high. Well, except…" Tali trailed off. John nodded to her, indicating he knew what she was referring to. Before either of them could say anything more, an alarm blared from the chief engineer's terminal. A confused look appeared on John's face.

"That's weird. I've never heard that one before," he said as he turned around. He examined the terminal briefly. "Oh shit!" he exclaimed as his hands sprang into a flurry of furious motion.

"What is it?" Tali asked, moving over to her terminal, ready to assist however she could.

"That's the heat load monitor for the sinks. We had way less time than I thought." John said. He opened the voice channel to the cockpit. "Joker! I've got to vent the sinks! They're nearly full!"

"No, Chief. There are too many geth ships nearby. They'll fire on us," Joker responded.

"Joker, you don't understand. We have to vent them now!" John yelled to his terminal, his fingers still flying over the console.

"Hang on, John. I can get us out of here."

"Damn it, Joker!" John slammed his fist on the console. "It's gonna start venting into the ship if we don't vent the sinks right fucking now!" The swearing startled Tali. She had never heard him curse so much at once, or while yelling. _The situation must be bad,_ Tali thought. She began to try to reduce emissions in any way she could at her terminal.

"I'll just make an FTL jump," Joker said.

"No, Joker! Not unless you want every geth ship in the star cluster coming after us! Damn it." John switched the intercom to the navigator's station in the CIC. "Pressly, we've got to vent the ship's emissions sinks. They're going to start venting into the interior of the ship!"

"Do it," Navigator Pressly responded without hesitation.

"I can get us out of here!" Joker said desperately.

"Joker, we have to do it now or we're all cooked! Literally!" John said.

"Joker, deactivate the stealth systems. That's an order!" Pressly said. Tali heard a sigh from the comm.

"Fine. But if the geth kill us, I blame you guys." The alarm coming from John's terminal stopped. He immediately vented the emissions sinks.

"It won't matter if we all die in here anyway," John retorted. "Besides, the Normandy can handle a few geth frigates just fine."

"I hope so, cuz here they come," Joker said. John turned off the comm on the terminal.

"Tali, get ready for combat. We may need to divert power to the kinetic barriers. I'm switching the ship to low-power lighting. Divert all non-critical power to the shields and weapons."

"Got it," Tali responded, beginning to work.

"All hands, brace for evasive maneuvers," came Joker's voice over the loudspeaker. Tali felt heavier as Joker pulled the ship up into a steep vertical U-turn. It was replaced by a much more subtle vertigo as the momentum dampeners kicked in. The ship shook as the kinetic barriers absorbed fire from a geth ship.

"Damn they got a bead on us fast. What are our shields like?" John said.

"I'm reading 80 percent over here," Tali answered.

"Hm. I hope there aren't too many geth ships." John said. He activated the comm on his terminal. "Pressly, can I get a sitrep? How many geth ships do we have?"

Pressly's voice crackled over the intercom, "We've got three geth ships incoming, Chief. Looks like all three are frigates."

"We'd better take them out fast or make an FTL jump, Pressly. The Normandy wasn't built for a war of attrition."

"Understood, Chief. We still have to get the Commander, remember."

"Copy. Do what you have to. Rettinger out." John closed the voice channel.

"Can the Normandy handle three at once?" Tali asked John. He looked at her meaningfully.

"We'll be okay, Tali. It'll take more than that to get rid of the Normandy," he assured her. Tali wasn't convinced, but she returned to work on her terminal.

"One geth ship down," came Joker's voice over the intercom.

"See? We got this," John said. Almost as soon as he had finished speaking another blast rocked the ship, this one slightly harder than the one before.

"Barriers at 55 percent," Tali said, relaying the information on her readout.

"Is all non-critical power diverted to the barriers?" John asked.

"Yes, everything I can find. The whole ship is already on low-power lighting, and life support systems are at minimum capacity."

"Okay. There isn't much else we can do, then. Try and divert combat stress from the drive core as much as possible. We lose the drive core and we're done."

"Understood," Tali said as the ship rocked a third time, this time significantly more than the previous two.

"Two geth ships down," Joker said over the loudspeaker.

"Shields at twenty percent," Tali told John.

"Damn it," John said. "That's way too low for comfort."

"John," Pressly's voice emanated from John's console. "The third geth ship is below us. We can't hit it. It looks like they're going to try and board through the cargo deck. You're in charge down there. Take whoever is down there and repel any boarding parties. Failing that, slow them down so we can prepare defenses up here."

"Yes sir," John replied. "Synthetic bastards won't know what hit 'em."

"Give 'em hell. Pressly out."

John shut the comms off. He pulled out a small rectangular device and plugged it into his terminal.

"What's that?" Tali asked.

"It's a flash memory drive with a self-executing program on it. It will interface with the terminal and destroy any classified Alliance data on it, as well as other, more personal things that I have it programmed to destroy. It'll back up all the personal data to an extranet server where I can retrieve it if I want it later, but if the geth are gonna take this ship, there's no sense in helping them out and giving Saren useful intel."

"Oh, wow. I need one of those."

"Standard issue for Alliance personnel. Remind me once this shit is over and I'll put in a requisition order for you."

"Okay," Tali said.

"Alright. That's taken care of." John looked at Tali. "Now come on. We've got a ship to defend."

* * *

><p>John walked through the cargo hold to his locker. It was grouped with all the others on the cargo deck since he spent so much time on that deck anyway. In the hold he found Garrus, Wrex, and the Alliance requisitions officer. Ashley wasn't there. Shepard had taken her to Therum to find Dr. T'Soni. <em>Not bad,<em> John thought. _Five people to fend off a geth attack. We got this._

Garrus approached him. "John, what's going on?" he asked. "We know the geth are attacking, but why have they stopped firing?"

"There were three ships that broke off from the main geth force to attack us," John said. "We managed to disable two, but the third is directly below us and is going to attempt to board us. I've been ordered to take charge and repel any boarding parties." John began to don his armor. It was standard issue armor for all Alliance engineers, whether they expected combat or not. It was simple light armor with heavy kinetic barriers meant for popping out of cover quickly to disable shields or overload weapons and popping back in. Not the greatest, but it would do. John was glad he forwent wearing an officer's uniform, which he was allowed to wear as chief engineer, in favor of the standard issue Alliance grunt uniform; the thick fabric and limited mobility of the more formal officer's uniform would have been ill-suited to wear underneath his armor. As it were, he fit his armor on just fine and powered up the kinetic barriers.

In addition to his armor, John took the standard Alliance issue M7 Lancer assault rifle from his locker as well as his Elkoss Combine Edge pistol custom-modified with corrosive rounds and a high-caliber barrel. He bought the pistol after the Skyllian Blitz in case he ever faced combat again, and it looked like it was about to pay off. He left the sniper rifle he usually preferred to carry in favor of a standard-issue Katana shotgun. The sniper rifle would do him no good inside a ship, and would only serve to slow him down. The shotgun, on the other hand, would prove useful in such close quarters.

Having finished arming himself, he turned around and found everyone on the cargo deck gathered around him. He gathered himself.

"Failing repulsion, we are to slow down any boarding parties as much as possible while the crew on the upper decks prepares defenses. However, I don't plan on failure. Everyone gear up."

Wrex spoke in the deep bass common to krogan, "Why are you in charge, human? You probably have the least combat experience out of any of us," he said. John looked at him.

"Don't underestimate me, Wrex," John said firmly, but not aggressively. "I've got more combat experience than you know. I saw shit during the Skyllian Blitz that would make your stomach- stomachs churn. I led a rag-ass team of marines scraped off shore leave against an army of batarians for three days. Didn't lose a man. Beyond that, orders are orders. Pressly ordered me to lead the repulsion team, so I'm gonna lead it. If I die, feel free to fight them on your own."

"Fine, but don't ask me to like it." Wrex said begrudgingly.

"I don't give a damn if you like it so long as you do what I say, when I say it. Now gear up. All of you."

Wrex turned and went to retrieve his gear. The rest followed suit. John turned around and readied his weapons on the weapon bench. This took several minutes. When he was finished he moved to the center of the cargo hold and waited for the rest. Tali returned first with a pistol, shotgun, and a set of armor that strapped onto her exo-suit for combat.

"I wonder why Wrex has such a problem with you in charge," she said.

"Can't say I blame him. Most ship's engineers don't have combat experience, much less leadership experience. I'm an exception though. Pressly knew that, and I guess that's why he wanted me in charge. Probably didn't trust the non-humans either. I'm glad he's on board, though. We're gonna need him."

"Yeah, we are," Tali replied. She fell silent as Garrus walked over to join them.

"You ready for this, John," he asked.

"Ready as I'm gonna get I reckon," John replied.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I'd rather have you in charge than anybody else on this deck."

"Thanks, Garrus. I'd be pretty comfortable with you in charge, though."

"I appreciate that, but I don't quite have the pedigree that you earned during the Blitz."

"All the same to me, Garrus." The group fell silent again. After a few moments Wrex and the requisitions officer returned together, weapons in hand.

"Okay, here's the plan," John began. He drew out the defensive positions each of them was to take around the hold.

"Tali, I want you to hack the most powerful one that comes in, okay? Especially if it's one of those big bastards, a Juggernaut I think they call them," he continued.

"Yeah. The Primes are also pretty formidable," Tali said.

"Right, them too. Just whatever the most dangerous one is, hack it. There's no need in fighting it if we can get the other geth to fight it for us."

"Got it," Tali said.

"Let them beat on each other until the hack wears off. Once it does, concentrate fire on it. If there's two, I'll drain the shields of the other one and keep it distracted while you guys bring the first one down. Once they're out of the way, work on the other geth, just like any other enemy. We can handle that. And watch your flanks! Do not let them flank us, or we're done. They'll enter through the main cargo door because it's a hell of a lot easier than cutting through the bottom, so don't let them move from the middle. Keep them in the crossfire. Once the boarding party is taken care of, stay behind cover and let your shields recharge. More might be on the way. We may need to board their ship to detach the boarding lock, so be ready for that too. Any questions?" He paused to give them time to ask questions. "Okay, everybody grab a communicator. Do not engage until I give the order." John held out a handful of earpieces he grabbed from the ship's armory. Everybody took one from his hand except Tali. John fit one on his own ear. "Alright people let's move. We've got a ship to defend."

John pulled Tali aside as the others began moving crates and setting up defenses. "Do you have a communicator in that thing?" he asked her, referring to the suit.

"Yes. Works on all standard frequencies."

"Good. Tune it to 99.5 megahertz. That's the frequency for personal radios on the Normandy." Tali opened her omni-tool. After a few moments of working, she closed it.

"Done," she said. John nodded to her. He opened the voice channel on his earpiece.

"Comm check. Can everyone hear me?" he said.

"Check," said Garrus.

"Check," came from Tali as she gave him a thumbs up.

"We're good," the requisitions officer said.

"I hear you," Wrex said.

John nodded, pleased. Nothing complicated a fight more than the inability to communicate, and the comms worked without a hitch. No fiddling required.

John set to work moving crates for defenses. He had the team arrange two tiers of crates. Two crates on the outsides of the cargo bay, facing inward toward the main cargo door. He hoped to use those crates to catch the geth in a crossfire and keep the flanks guarded. The second tier was arranged on the outsides of the rear support columns. John moved a fifth crate to the middle of the cargo bay, behind the two tiers. He would be there so he could see the fight easier.

He positioned Wrex and the requisitions officer in the front, Wrex for his biotics and ability to… well rip things apart with his bare hands. The requisitions officer was there because he didn't really know what to do with him. John had no idea what his combat abilities were like. He put Tali in the rear-left and Garrus on the rear-right. Garrus was the logical choice for the rear; he was well trained with assault rifles, and the range given by the rear crates was perfect for assault rifles. He put Tali in the rear because he needed her alive and he felt the rear was a safer place. She could hack and overload with her omni-tool from there and had a nice range for her pistol.

As the movement died down, a strange sound John had never heard before came from the cargo door. It was some kind of strange, stuttering, mechanical click.

"What the hell-?" John began to ask.

"It's the geth!" Tali said.

John opened the voice channel on his earpiece. "Everybody take position! Get down!" he ordered as he vaulted over his crate and sat down with his back to it. The sounds of armor moving and weapons readying filled the cargo hold as everyone followed his order. Nobody said a word. John brought his assault rifle off his back and expanded it. The hold fell silent as everybody settled in behind his or her respective cover.

Then came the waiting. _Damn the waiting,_ John thought. _It's always the worst part._ His heart hammered in his chest. He did his best to control his breathing. He knew the geth were busy trying to get the door open, most likely hacking it, but he wished they would do it faster and get it over with. It felt like an eternity waiting for the fight to begin.

"Everybody stay hidden! Do not engage until I give the order!" he said over the comms. Just after he was done speaking, the pneumatic pumps controlling the cargo door hissed as the door slid open. John heard the strange stuttering sound again, this time not muffled by the door in the way. He laid his assault rifle down and opened his omni-tool. It showed six heat signatures by the doorway that he assumed to be geth. He risked a peek around his crate to examine the situation. He saw two prime units in the middle and four geth troopers, two on either side of the primes. Shit. John knew two primes were going to be tough to handle. The geth began to spread out, the two primes moving up the middle and the troopers spreading to the sides. John withdrew his head.

"Hold…" he whispered through his earpiece, knowing it would automatically amplify his voice for its recipients. "Everybody stay down." He watched his omni-tool as the heat signatures spread apart from each other. One moved next to where John guessed Wrex's crate was. "Tali, hack that prime on the left. Everybody else, hold," he ordered.

"Got it. Give me a few seconds," Tali said.

"Rettinger, one of the geth is just on the other side of my crate. I'm gonna take him out. Get ready to engage," came Wrex's voice over the comm.

"Negative, Wrex!" John whispered urgently. "Wait for Tali to hack that prime!"

"It's gonna notice me in a second, Rettinger! You best get ready," Wrex repeated.

"Fine then. Do what you have to, but try to wait as long as you can." John heard the firing of a weapon, though not a conventional one using bullets. It had to be a plasma weapon of some kind. He heard a battle cry that could only be from the mouth of a krogan. "Damn it. Fire at will," he said. He looked around the crate to see Wrex grab one of the troopers over the crate and rip its head off with his hands as the roar of gunfire erupted in the hold. John opened his omni-tool and drained the shields of the prime on the right. He brought his assault rifle over the top of the crate and opened fire on it.

"Got it!" Tali said. The prime she had been hacking immediately began firing at the other trooper that Wrex hadn't killed, which began to fire back. John continued to fire at the other prime as Tali began shooting her pistol, adding the sound to the din of all the other gunfire.

John stopped firing long enough to look around. He saw the prime and the one trooper still shooting each other, Garrus and Tali were busy engaging the prime on the left, and the requisitions officer was shooting at a trooper from behind his crate. But there were four troopers. Where did the fourth one go? Just as John realized this, movement in his periphery caught his attention to his right.

John looked at where he had seen the movement. He saw the fourth geth trooper appear from behind the Mako. "Shit!" he swore as it began shooting at him. John moved away from the geth in a desperate attempt to get some cover between him and it. He knew that his shields were meant for short bursts of gunfire and would quickly fail under a consistent hail of rounds. He fired back at the trooper to try and get it to retreat behind the Mako for cover, but it just let its shields absorb the fire. In desperation, John whipped a grenade off his hip and threw it at the ground beneath the geth's feet. The trooper dove back behind the Mako to escape the blast radius as the grenade detonated. John took his chance. Dropping his assault rifle, he sprinted at the corner of the Mako where he last saw the trooper. As he approached, the trooper reappeared from behind the Mako to shoot at John again, but didn't get the chance as John charged it and tackled it, bringing it to the ground. The geth struggled underneath John for a moment as John lay on top of it. John took his pistol off his hip and put it underneath the geth's curved head. He fired a single round that went through its head and out the top. The light of the optical sensor went out, but the trooper still struggled underneath John.

_It's not organic, dumb shit,_ John thought to himself. _You gotta hit something vital_. He put the pistol to the trooper's chest and began firing again. He put multiple rounds into its chest in various places, hoping to hit the power supply or central processing unit. After the fifth bullet the geth lay still. John rose to a stand and put three more rounds into it just to be safe. With the trooper taken care of, John turned around to examine the situation. It had deteriorated quickly.

Tali and Garrus were pinned by one of the primes. Wrex was pinned by the other, which had recovered from Tali's hack. The requisitions officer was busy applying medi-gel to himself, as he had taken a round to his left shoulder. The only good thing was that all of the troopers were dead. John swore and took cover behind the Mako.

"Tali," he said over the comm, "can you hack the other prime now? The one that's shooting at you?"

"Yeah. Give me a second," Tali replied.

"Garrus and I will cover you," John said as he leaned out from behind the Mako to shoot at the prime with his pistol. "Garrus, alternate with me. Let your shields recover while I occupy it, and we'll switch to keep our shields charged."

"Understood," Garrus replied, ducking back behind his chest-high crate. John continued to fire at the prime to keep it from firing on Tali. The prime fired back at him. John let his shields absorb the fire for a moment, and then retreated behind the Mako. He periodically popped out of cover to take a few shots at the prime before retreating again in order to keep the prime focused on him. After doing this several times, Garrus said, "I'm good, John." Garrus brought his assault rifle up over his crate and began shooting at the prime. John retreated behind the Mako and stayed there to let his shields recover.

"Got it," Tali said over the comms. The prime that they had been occupied with began firing at the other prime that had been engaging Wrex.

"Everybody, concentrate fire on the prime on my right!" John ordered. He leaned out from behind the Mako again and began shooting at that prime. The rest followed suit. The prime brought down the other prime, since it had already been weakened when it was hacked the first time. It fell to the ground, sparking and stuttering until the light on its head died. John continued to fire until he noticed that none of his rounds were having an effect. _Damn it,_ he swore to himself. The armor was too thick for any ordinance they had on board to pierce it.

John examined the prime unit, trying to find a way to bring it down. He noticed a gap in its armor near the base of its neck, where a few wires could be seen running down the neck and into the torso. An idea occurred to John. It was crazy, but he couldn't think of anything else. The unit began firing at his team again as it overcame Tali's hack.

"Everybody, keep fire on it. I've got an idea." John moved across the back of the Mako, turning the corner and moving across the length of the rover. He kept low, hoping the prime wouldn't spot him through the gaps in between the wheels. He reached the corner at the front end of the Mako. He peeked around the corner to ensure the prime hadn't noticed his movement. He checked his grenade belt on his hip for trip mines.

"Hold fire!" John ordered as he turned the corner and charged the prime. It finally saw him as he was rushing toward it and turned to face him. It managed to get a few shots off before John reached it, but his shields absorbed the fire. He collided with the unit at its knees and squeezed, bringing its feet together in an attempt to bring it off balance and force it to the ground. The huge geth stood upright, however, and for a terrifying moment John feared it would stay that way, in which case he was dead. But he refused to give up. He squeezed tighter, dug his feet into the floor and heaved. His quadriceps flexed as he pushed on the prime with all his might. It finally worked; the top-heavy armored geth unit toppled over. John scrambled up to its chest, pulled a trip mine off his grenade belt, and shoved it as far down into the gap in its armor as he could. He rolled off the unit.

"Everybody take cover!" he yelled as he scrambled toward Tali's cover. He vaulted over the crate and leaned up against it next to Tali as the prime began firing at him. He slapped the button on his hip to set off the trip mine and heard it explode. He kept his head low as bits of geth flew over his head. He looked around the corner of the crate at the spot where the prime had been and saw its mangled body lying where he had detonated the mine. He withdrew his head and relaxed, leaning against the crate and breathing heavily from the exertion and adrenaline of the fight. He sat for a time, allowing himself to recover for a moment. He noticed how close he was to Tali and his face began to heat up. John hastily stood.

"Pressly," he said into his communicator after switching it over to the ship's intercom channel.

"Yeah, Chief? How's it going down there?" Pressly responded.

"Boarding party's been taken care of, but the boarding arm is still attached to the ship," John answered, moving back to his original crate to retrieve his assault rifle. "I've got wounded down here. I'm sending him up to Chakwas."

"Understood. Can you detach the boarding tunnel?"

"I don't know. I can try, but I'd rather not with only four. If we meet resistance it'll be tough. Can you send me Private Miller?"

A pause, then, "He's on his way."

"Thank you. Rettinger out." John switched his comm back to the personal channel. Ignoring the stares from Tali, Wrex, and Garrus, he walked past them to the corner where the requisitions officer sat attempting to bandage his wound with one hand.

"How you doing, soldier?" John asked, kneeling down.

"I'm okay," he replied. "I can still fight."

"No you can't, not with that shoulder. Go on up to Chakwas."

"But, sir-"

"But nothing," John cut him off. "You did good. Go see the doctor and get that taken care of. We can't have it getting infected."

"I-" the requisitions officer began. He sighed and said, "Yes sir." John helped him up and watched him make his way to the elevator. He walked back over to Tali, Garrus, and Wrex.

"You are a crazy bosh'tet!" Tali said as he approached, pointing a finger at him. "Charging a prime. I haven't seen much crazier than that."

"Hey it worked, didn't it?" John asked, grinning.

"I'll admit, that was damned impressive," Garrus said. "For a second I thought that prime was going to take us all out single-handed because we didn't have the ordinance to take care of it. Just goes to show that a little ingenuity and a lot of crazy can go a long way in a lopsided fight."

"Emphasis on the crazy," Tali said. John continued to smile at the joking. The elevator door hissed and opened to admit Private Miller. He approached John and saluted.

"Private Miller reporting for duty, sir," he said.

"Miller, you're just in time. We were about to take care of the boarding tunnel. Tali, override the hack on the door and get it open again. The rest of you, stack up in front of me." His team moved to follow his orders. Within minutes they were in a line in front of the now open cargo bay doors, moving through to detach the boarding tunnel so no more geth could board. Instead of a tunnel, however, they found a small room no larger than the med bay on the ship.

"This is odd," John said. "I wonder where they came from. Or maybe this isn't a tunnel but it's-"

"John, this isn't a tunnel," came Garrus' voice from a smaller room to John's left. "I just found a cockpit. This is a shuttle."

"Wow, a free shuttle. Who opened a bank account?" John asked. Nobody laughed, giving him odd looks instead. "Nevermind. Reference to an old-ass practice on Earth. Maybe I'll explain later," he said, stepping into the cockpit. "I think we're done here, guys. I'll stay here and see if I can't get some useful intel from the databanks on this thing. You guys can return to your posts in the ship." His team began to leave the geth shuttle.

John sat down and began sifting through the databases in the shuttle, downloading everything that might be useful to his omni-tool. He would work on decrypting and decoding it later, when he had some free time. When he finished, he returned to the ship and reported to Pressly. The Normandy had no trouble dealing with the final geth frigate at full shields. They engaged the stealth systems and picked up Shepard and his team without incident.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, John kept glancing over at Tali as he worked at his terminal in the engine room. He kept trying to stop himself, but he couldn't. He had to admit, she had a nice body. The way her upper body curved inward and then back out to her- <em>Damn it, get back to work!<em> John chastised himself. Sighing, he turned his attention back to his terminal.

"Something wrong?" Tali asked, having heard him sigh.

"No," John replied. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day." It was well into the third shift on the Normandy, and the ship had been quiet for a few hours, most of the crew in the sleeper pods on the second deck getting some rest.

"Yeah, it has been. Getting boarded has a tendency to tire those already on board."

"Indeed," John said. He returned to work decoding the geth data he salvaged from the shuttle. Most of it was junk that he couldn't use. Anything useful he forwarded to the Alliance brass for them to decide how to use it. Most importantly he searched for anything about the Conduit, as it was the key to Saren's plan and nobody knew what it was or where it was.

As he worked, however, his thoughts began to wander. He and Tali had just finished a conversation. It had been interrupted by Engineer Jackson, the third shift engineer, walking into the engine room for her shift. He found himself disappointed at the abrupt end to the dialogue. As the two of them talked he found himself admiring her positive attitude and constant selflessness more and more. She had sacrificed so much for her people, and even for the rest of the galaxy, that he couldn't help but admire her. It made him rather introspective; what had he done for his people? Sure, he had joined the Alliance, but that was because he saw no alternative, not because he wanted to serve humanity.

John's thoughts were interrupted as the intercom winked into existence on his terminal screen and Joker's voice emanated from the console.

"Bridge to Engineering. You still down there, Chief?"

John opened the voice channel, "Yeah I'm here, Joker."

"The Commander wants to see you in his quarters. Probably wants a debrief on what happened while we were near Therum."

"Understood, Joker. You can tell him I'm on my way."

"Roger. Bridge out."

John shut his console down. "Well, duty calls." He turned to Tali. "Don't stay up too late, okay? You need some rest. It certainly has been a long day."

Tali looked at him. "I won't," she responded. "I was going to finish cleaning the carbon buildup in the thrusters and go to sleep anyway."

"Good. I gotta get going. Don't wanna keep Shepard waiting. Have a good night, Tali" He gave her a friendly smile.

"You too." With that John turned and strode toward the exit.


	4. The Distant Past

Author's notes: Hey guys. Thankfully this chapter didn't take as long as the last one. It's not quite as long, but hopefully it's good. I have a couple people to proofread me now and help critique it, so hopefully things shall improve as we go.

I was somewhat hesitant at first moving forward with the romance subplot this early on, but after talking with one of the guys who reads my stuff, I figured, ah to hell with it. Some people seem to like it, and I don't think I'm going to run out of stuff to write, since this fanfic will run into the two year interval between ME1 and 2. So I'll give it a shot and we'll see how it goes. As far as a chapter estimate goes, right now I'm shooting for about 30 chapters, though that may change. Approximately 15 for ME1 and 15 for the two year aftermath.

Lastly, thank you guys for the reviews and adds. I was getting a bit discouraged until I read some of the latest reviews, and I felt much better about the way I've written it and my plans going forward. So thank you. It means a lot.

* * *

><p><strong>The Distant Past<strong>

Commander Shepard looked over a datapad in the captain's quarters of the Normandy. It contained an official Alliance personnel file. What the file revealed surprised him. He had decided to pick up Rettinger's file on a whim after he read the report on the geth boarding party simply out of curiosity and a desire to be informed. He had not expected the bomb it dropped on him. While cryogenic patients weren't unheard of, they were rather rare and most people never met one. It was even more rare for one to join the Alliance military; most were content to simply take the jobs offered to them and try to live a life as close as they could to whatever was normal in his or her original time. It was more rare still for a cryo patient to be such a talented engineer. The vast majority of cryo patients could hardly adapt to the technology used in everyday life like omni-tools, holographic terminal interfaces, and the extranet. To even suggest that one might know anything about the most advanced starship tech in the galaxy was borderline lunacy. Yet Rettinger probably knew more about Shepard's omni-tool than Shepard himself did, let alone about propulsion theory and FTL drive core technology.

A soft tap at the door tore Shepard's attention away from the datapad. "Come in. It's open," he said, already pretty sure who it was. Sure enough, the door opened to reveal Chief Engineer Rettinger. He snapped a salute as Shepard set the datapad down on his desk and stood.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" he said. Shepard nodded to him.

"At ease, soldier," he said, releasing John from protocol. John's hand dropped to his side and he seemed to relax a bit. Shepard gestured toward the round table in the middle of the cabin. "Have a seat, Chief," he said, grabbing a chair himself and sitting down. John sat down on the opposite side of the table from Shepard.

After a moment of silence, John asked, "So what's this about, cap? You want a report on what happened while you were on Therum?" Shepard arched an eyebrow.

"Why would you think I want that? I've already got the report you filed. I assume it's accurate." John recoiled slightly; the punishment for falsifying reports was severe in the Alliance.

"Oh, yeah it's accurate," he clarified. "I just… I dunno I assumed you had questions."

Shepard frowned and shook his head. "No, I really don't. It sounds like you didn't have a choice but to disengage the stealth systems, and when the geth boarded you did an excellent job fending them off, though I'm not entirely sure why Pressly chose you to lead the repulsion team."

"Me neither, really. I probably would have picked Garrus."

"Agreed."

"But you know how he is about aliens, so he picked the only human officer on the deck. That's my guess, anyway."

"Regardless," Shepard said, eager to get back to the topic he intended to discuss, "you did well, and I should probably recommend you for a commendation. You followed your orders, held fast under pressure, came up with a solid battle plan, and executed it, adjusting as the situation changed. And charging a damned prime… I saw a few of those things on Therum. They're fearsome. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Shepard paused then, gathering himself. He had planned out what he was going to say, but it was still hard to ask a man about losing everything and everyone he ever knew and being thrust into a completely new reality. Hell, even the laws of physics had changed since the early 21st century.

So, steeling himself, Shepard opened his mouth and spoke, "I was looking over your personnel file…" but trailed off as John gave him such a meaningful look with such revealing eyes that Shepard couldn't say anything. For once, his eloquence had failed him. All he could do was sit there, slack jawed, mouth open slightly, looking at his chief engineer, and, as they looked each other straight in the eye, such an understanding passed between the two men that Shepard knew exactly what was going on in John's mind. John knew exactly where the conversation was going, and it seemed to cause so many emotions at once that Shepard couldn't comprehend the range of them. He saw the expected sorrow, despair, loss, and pain, of course. But those emotions were old, yet fresh at the same time. However, Shepard also found emotions that he hadn't expected that were newer and less adjusted to: hope, happiness, peace, and joy, even love. Shepard was dumbfounded. After several moments of the unspoken conversation, John looked away from Shepard and down at the table.

"I'm sorry… I- it's just…" he managed through a choked voice and watering eyes.

Shepard blinked. "Sorry? The hell are you sorry for, John? Few men could withstand that kind of loss and continue on as the same person. I can't say I feel your pain but… shit I should be the one apologizing for asking about something that personal."

John looked back up. "Well you aren't the first CO of mine to ask about it. I talked to Anderson about it too. I'm pretty used to it by now it's just… I've made so many friends in the past few weeks on board this ship. I guess it's put into perspective how much I lost when they pressed that button and froze me. I'm not really sure how to explain it."

_That's it,_ Shepard thought when he heard those words. He understood then where those new emotions came from, and why they were so new. In the seven years since John had thawed, he had never gotten close to anybody. He had probably made friends on his ships, sure, but he had never let any of them get closer than arm's length. But now, on this ship, he had allowed himself to have friends and let them get closer to him than he ever had since thawing. _It reminds him of what he lost, who he had._ Shepard pondered what had made this ship different from the several ships he served on before. Was it Shepard? Not likely. They had a fledgling friendship, but he wouldn't call the two of them particularly close. He hadn't had trouble talking to Anderson about it. What had changed since then? _The new crew,_ Shepard realized. _He spends so much time in the engine room with Tali. They have to be becoming friends. And the way he talked about her when she first came aboard…_

Finally understanding, Shepard said, "You don't have to explain anything to me, John. I understand."

"Thank you, sir," John said quietly.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it, don't want to be reminded, but if you do need anybody to talk to, I'm here. You know I like to know my crew, so I'm happy to talk whenever you want."

"No, it's okay. I probably need to talk about it to somebody anyway. What do you want to know?"

Shepard decided to start with happy memories. "Did you have any family?"

"Yeah. Mom, dad, two half sisters, aunts, uncles, still had a grandmother when I uh… left. Had some cousins too, though I only ever knew one of them really well."

"Were you two close?"

"You have no idea. Closer than brothers, if you ask me. We used to get in fistfights in the back yard." John chuckled at the memory. "I broke his nose one time giving him a double kick while I was on the ground. I stood back up, and then he hit me in the face and broke _my_ nose." John sighed and paused. After a moment of silence he continued, "I had planned on asking him to be my best man when I got married. Cancer threw a wrench in that plan, though."

"Is that why you did it?" Shepard asked tentatively. "You got cancer?"

"Yeah. About a month after I turned 18 in 2016 I went to the cardiologist for an MRI. I'd had cardio problems as an infant and they just wanted to make sure nothing was going wrong again. Turned out my heart was fine, but they found a tumor in my left lung. After some testing they found out that I had cancer and it had already progressed to stage four. It was pretty much a death sentence, because cancer had no cure at the time. The doctor presented me with two options. I could get traditional chemo and radiation treatments that wouldn't guarantee results. At best I might live five more years. Or, I could employ bleeding edge medical technology to flash-freeze me at near absolute zero and be woken up when a cure was found. My parents and I discussed it, and we decided that it was better for me to have a chance at a full life rather than have them drown in debt when I died in five years or less anyway. It seemed like the best choice-" John's voice cracked, and he put a fist over his mouth and looked down, trying to swallow the tears.

"What went wrong? Wasn't cancer cured in 2025?" Shepard asked gently.

John was silent for a few moments, but finally recovered enough to continue. "Bureaucratic mishap, apparently. They lost my record, and they didn't know when to wake me up, so they just let me go until the money we paid up front ran out, which was my entire college fund. I'm sure my parents tried to get me out, but since they didn't have my record they didn't know who was allowed to wake me up early. I can't imagine what that might have been like for them.

"Sometimes I think this is all just a dream, you know? Like any minute now I'm gonna wake up and it'll be like 2025 or something and I'm gonna crawl out of that damned tube and see my parents again. Then I'll go get treated and find the rest of my family. Find all my old friends, maybe play some basketball again like we're still in high school. And we'd all live happily ever FUCKING AFTER." John shouted the last two words, slamming a balled fist on the table. The shout seemed to echo hauntingly in the aluminum walls of the cabin, like the ship itself was lamenting John's loss. He put his elbow on the table and cradled his head in his hand, looking down at the table. He took a deep, shaking breath, and Shepard saw water dripping from his face. He had finally let the tears flow freely. He didn't sob or wail. He just let out the pent up sorrow through his eyes. Shepard stood and moved next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, for nothing he could say would make it any better or any easier. The only thing he could do was be there, so that was what he did.

As far as John was concerned, it was all he needed to do.

* * *

><p>Garrus' eyes crept open. He had been lying awake in the sleeper pod for a while, but had kept his eyes closed to see if he was going to go back to sleep. It was clear that he wasn't. He checked the time on his omni-tool. It was a few minutes before he had planned to get up, but he was awake so he might as well go ahead and get up. "Open," he said to the pod. The pod inclined to be nearly vertical and the door opened to admit him to the crew deck. He stepped out and stretched, hissing as the kink in his neck protested the movement. Rolling his head around, Garrus moved into the quiet mess hall. It was still early and nobody was up, save the guards who stood watch over the ship in shifts. He was surprised to find John sitting at the table, head down and asleep. Garrus chuckled at the unusual sight and began to make some dextro coffee. The popular human drink had been exported to other parts of the galaxy since the humans had appeared on the galactic scene, and, as it grew more popular across the galaxy, turian genetic engineers had created a dextro-amino acid version of the native Earth plant. It was gaining popularity among the turians as well, and Garrus had found himself drinking the highly caffeinated beverage increasingly more often to help get him started in the mornings. He started a pot brewing for himself and a normal levo-amino acid pot for the rest of the crew.<p>

Garrus sat down to wait for the coffee to brew, and John stirred. He lifted his head and looked around with half-closed eyes.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Garrus said. John mumbled something in response that Garrus' translator didn't quite pick up. "What's that?" he said, leaning in to hear better.

"The fuck did you just call me?" John said more loudly.

"Sleeping beauty," Garrus answered defensively. "That's the name of that human woman in that story, right?"

"Oh. Right, yeah that's the name. Sorry, my translator must not have translated properly. I thought you said something else." John rubbed his face with both hands. "I hate mornings."

"I couldn't tell," Garrus said sarcastically, standing up to fetch the coffee that had just finished brewing. He poured a cup from the dextro pot for himself and one from the levo pot for John. He returned to the table just as John began to stand up.

"I need some coffee," he muttered.

"Don't bother," Garrus said, setting a cup on the table in front of him. John looked at it confusedly for a moment before sitting back down and wrapping a hand around the cup, taking a sip.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Garrus said before taking a sip from his own cup. They were quiet for a time, each drinking from his cup periodically. "So this is a bit of an unusual bed," Garrus said.

"Yeah, yeah, I had a late night. I just sat down here for a minute, and I guess I fell asleep." John didn't look up to speak to Garrus. He just kept staring down into his steaming coffee as if it held the answer to some question he had been searching for his entire life. Something seemed off to Garrus. John didn't usually seem so melancholy. The grogginess was normal for John, as he wasn't much of a morning person, but something seemed to be bothering him on a deeper level, something that caused sorrow and pain. Garrus hated to see it. He considered John a friend and wanted to cheer him up. Getting an idea, he leaned in to speak.

"We'll be docking at the Citadel in a few hours. You wanna take some shore leave? Have some fun? I know Doran. He owns Flux, one of the better clubs in the Wards, so I can get us cheap drinks." John's face brightened a little at the suggestion.

"Sounds like fun. Been a long time since I've had a good clubbing night. Who else is coming?"

"Just me and you right now. We can bring anybody that wants to come, though. Kaidan would probably want in. Tali can come if she wants." At the mention of Tali, John's countenance lifted even more, and a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Let's go get shit faced then."

* * *

><p>John stopped at the navigator's station on the way through the CIC. "Pressly, we're taking leave," he told the XO, as Shepard had already gone ashore. He had business on the Citadel with Anderson and Udina. There was also something about a Nassana Dantius having a job for him? It sounded pretty shady to Garrus, but it wasn't his decision.<p>

"Leave granted. The Commander wanted us to set off again at 0900 tomorrow morning, so just be ready to go by then."

"Understood. We'll be back sometime tonight, probably when the clubs close."

"Have fun then."

John nodded, and the group, which included Garrus, Tali, and Kaidan in addition to John, continued through the CIC to the airlock. The VI logged their departures, and they moved out of the ship, John and Kaidan in their Alliance civvies and Garrus in normal turian civilian apparel. They took a cab to Flux, talking and laughing as the automated skycar carried them to the Wards. They walked into the club and sat down at one of the round tables. Garrus sat with John on his left, Kaidan on his right, and Tali across from him.

"Hey, I'm just as much an officer as you, Lieutenant," John said in response to a joke Kaidan made about "real" officers. "I can wear the officer's dress if I want. I don't seem to recall reading in the protocol handbook that you can." He pointed a finger at Kaidan, smiling as he spoke. "Just because I'm an engineer… In fact I should be considered more of an officer. Tali, Jackson, and I are the only reason that big-ass hunk of aluminum can even carry you around."

"Point taken," Kaidan said, also smiling and tilting his head. "I owe you an apology, sir," he continued, knowing that John hated to be called that.

"Don't call me 'sir.' That's an order," John said, eliciting laughter from the other two at the table.

As Garrus laughed, a small, three-fingered hand came to rest on his left shoulder. He looked over to see a volus standing next to him, his other hand on John's shoulder.

"Garrus! It's been a while," he said, taking the deep breaths between each sentence that characterized the volus.

"Good to see you, Doran," Garrus replied.

"And who do we have here?" Doran asked, looking around at the others seated around the table.

"These are my friends. They serve with me on my new ship." Gesturing to each of them in turn, he introduced them. "This is John, that's Tali, and this is Kaidan."

"Ah, well welcome to my club! Any friend of Garrus' is a friend of mine! As such, the first round of drinks will be on the house tonight."

"You sure, Doran? You don't have to do that," Garrus said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Nonsense! I insist! It's but a fraction of what I owe you, Garrus, for all the help you've given me over the years. So what's everybody having?" Doran looked around expectantly. John spoke up first.

"You got any human beer?" he asked. "Been a long time since I've had a good lager."

"Certainly! We have Torkenbrand, Budweiser, and Sam Adams."

"Oh shit, they still make Sam Adams? Can I get a pint of that?"

Kaidan interjected, "Hey, that actually sounds pretty good. Get me a pint too, would you, Doran?"

"On tap or in bottle?"

"How do your bottles come? Do we get a frosted mug?" John asked.

"We have them, if you'd like it."

"I'll get that, then."

"I'll have it on tap," Kaidan said.

"Not a problem, gentlemen. What'll you have, Garrus?"

"The usual, Doran."

"I expected nothing less. And what about you, young lady?" Doran turned his head to Tali. "We have sterilized stock for quarians." Tali shook her head.

"No thank you, I won't be having a drink tonight."

"Come on, Tali, live a little!" John said. "The night is young! We're here to have fun!"

"I don't have the credits to spare…" Tali said unconvincingly.

"It's on the house! At least have a round." Tali sighed.

"Okay. I'm sure you won't stop bothering me about it unless I get one."

"That's the spirit!" John slapped his hand on the table. "One drink for the quarian lady, please, my good sir!" he said, looking at Doran.

"Coming right up. I'll be just a moment with all your drinks." Doran turned and walked away toward the bar, and the group continued conversing over the loud music from the dance floor. Doran returned after a few minutes carrying a tray with all their drinks. He set them all on the table. "Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything else. Enjoy your drinks," he said before walking away again. John poured his beer into the frosted mug.

"Now _that's_ how you serve a beer. It's like I'm back on Earth," he said. Garrus began to take a sip from his glass of turian liquor, but John stopped him. "Wait, Garrus," he said, standing up. "I propose a toast. Garrus, Tali, I assume you're familiar with that practice?" They each nodded an affirmation. "Then to friendships, new and old, to friends, new and old, and especially to the friendships present today. May they grow and flourish, strengthening the bonds between this band of brothers so that they cannot be broken, and the gates of Hell itself shall not prevail against them. And, to the first drink of our friendship. Cheers!" John took a gulp from his mug, the others following in unison. "Extra rounds are on me," John said, sitting down to protests from the others.

* * *

><p>"So we put shavin' cream all over our coach's car," John recalled in a heavy southern drawl, "an' we wrapped it in plastic wrap. But then this lady comes outta her hotel room an' gives us KY, fuckin' KY, to put on his door handles! It was prolly the best prank I ever pulled on anybody. I wish I had a picture of his face when he saw that car."<p>

"Sorry, but what's KY?" Garrus asked as Kaidan laughed at the story. John glanced at Tali, then leaned in to tell Garrus what it was so she wouldn't hear. "Oh, God! Damn, that's disgusting! And it was just some random lady you didn't even know?"

"Yup."

"And he touched the door handles?"

"Yup."

"Oh, that's gross."

"It was funny as shit, though."

"Hey, John, what's with this newfound accent? Why do you sound like a southern U.S. hick all of a sudden?" Kaidan asked.

"I grew up in the south, man."

"You've never had an accent before, though."

"Well if you hadn't noticed, Kaidan, I am completely hammered right now, so I imagine that might have somethin' to do with it."

"Good point."

John looked around and drained the last dregs from his beer mug. "You got any good stories, Kaidan?"

"Well… There was this one time I met Commander Shepard."

"No shit?" John interjected.

"And we went on this crazy adventure to save the galaxy."

"I'm drunk, Kaidan, not stupid," John said, a smile beginning to appear on his face.

"I'm telling you it happened. I met this smart-ass engineer, too."

"Yeah? I bet that engineer was a smart-ass cuz he was smarter'n you. I bet he was devilishly handsome, too, an' you were jealous of his looks, an' his charm, an' his way with the ladies."

"Ah, he was a good guy once you got to know him."

"Hmm. Thanks, Kaidan."

"Don't mention it."

John stood up. "I'm tired of sittin' here," he said. "This is a club. I wanna dance. Anyone care to join?"

Kaidan downed the rest of his beer and shrugged. "Ah, what the hell. Might as well live while I'm still alive." He stood up.

"You guys go on, I'll be there in a minute," Garrus said. "I wanna finish my brandy before I start waving my ass all over the club." Tali also declined, though likely it was more from shyness than anything else.

"Suit yourselves," John said, turning to the dance floor. As he and Kaidan walked away, Garrus took another swig of liquor. He worried about John. He was obviously using the alcohol to cover up something, to forget about some intense sorrow he had carried for a long time. John certainly wasn't an alcoholic; it was the first time he had even touched the stuff since Garrus had come aboard the Normandy. Still, Garrus couldn't help but wonder what it was that troubled John so much that he wanted to be drunk and forget about it because, as far as Garrus could tell, John was rather strong-willed. He had displayed that when the geth boarded the ship. Whatever it was, it must have caused him great pain and followed him wherever he went.

"Something wrong, Garrus?" Tali asked, interrupting the silence that had fallen over the table.

"What? Oh, no I was just thinking." Garrus glanced over his shoulder. "I'm a bit worried about John. He seems troubled lately."

"Agreed. I thought I was the only one that noticed." Tali replied. "I think it has something to do with his family, or his upbringing." Garrus gave her a quizzical look. Tali clarified, "When we first met, we talked to each other about our families. I'm sure he was hiding something, and when I brought up the subject he just sort of… withdrew. It was like he didn't want to think about it."

"Hmm, interesting," Garrus said thoughtfully. He turned and looked at John, who was busy making a fool of himself on the dance floor. _That_ was something Garrus admired. The ability to have some fun and be an idiot without caring what anyone thought about it was something Garrus had yet to master. Suddenly, Garrus had an idea. He turned back around to look at Tali. "You should go dance with him," he told her.

Tali visibly balked. "What? Are you serious?" She began wringing her hands on the table. "He doesn't want me to dance with him. Besides, I can't dance, and-" Garrus interrupted her.

"Tali, it'll cheer him up, I promise. Trust me." Tali was silent but continued wringing her hands nervously. Garrus watched them as her fingers interlocked and moved in between each other, performing their own intimate dance on the table. "Come on, I'll go with you," he said, confident that it would lift John's spirits.

"Keelah, I'm going to regret this…" The lights behind her visor that were her eyes disappeared as she sighed and shook her head. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

><p>John pushed upward against the bench press bar, struggling to complete his last repetition in the set. He grunted as he overcame the threshold and pushed the weight high enough to put it back on the rack. He sat up, working his arms to bring blood flow to his pectorals and triceps. He stood up and walked across the Normandy's weight room to the water fountain, bending over and taking a long drink. Ever since that night at Flux he had felt happier than he had been in a long time. It wasn't unusual for him to work out; he usually lifted at least three days a week to keep in shape, but since that night at the club nearly two weeks ago he had felt renewed and invigorated. He had a renewed desire to push himself harder. He made himself lift heavier weight and do more repetitions.<p>

And some small part of his mind, a part that he continued to try and push away and silence, kept telling him it was to impress Tali. _No. She's just a friend,_ he kept telling himself.

His surprise was evident when she had approached him and wanted to dance. He simply hadn't expected it from the shy quarian girl he had grown used to working with. But he accepted the offer wholeheartedly, and they danced the night away. John had no inkling of the length of time for which they danced. All he cared about was that they danced. Occasionally Garrus or Kaidan would appear next to them, sometimes having found their own girl to dance with, sometimes going solo, but they always got lost in the crowd again. Tali and John stayed together the entire time. An unwitting smile lifted the corners of his mouth at the memory.

John lay back down on the bench and began lifting the bar again. One… two… three… the mindless count put his thoughts on hold. He heard the door hiss. He glanced over to see Shepard standing in the doorway. "Shepard," John grunted, "give me a second." He reached the ninth repetition and the weight stalled halfway up. John pushed harder against it, but made little headway. He gave it everything he had, then. His face twisted into a snarl, veins and cords in his neck popping out as he strained against the weight. It began to rise slowly. He barely managed to fully extend his arms. He set the bar back on the rack and stood, saluting the Commander. Shepard returned it.

"John, I need you for a mission," he said, getting right to business.

"What's that, cap?" John said, curious about what would require a chief engineer to deploy on a ground team.

"You're certified for the Mako, right?"

"Yes sir."

"I need you to come with me on the next mission to show Garrus and Tali the ropes. Why Anderson only picked one person for this crew that knew the Mako is beyond me, but there it is."

"I can do that. Where are we deploying?"

"On Casbin, in the Hong system of the Armstrong Nebula. Just a bit of surveying, nothing heavy. I might take you on a combat mission later so they can get a feel for that, but for now mineral survey will do."

"Sounds good. When do I need to be ready?"

"Gear up and meet us by the Mako at 1400 hours."

"Yes sir."


	5. Incursion

Author's notes: OK guys, this one was a doozy. It wasn't terribly long, but I kept running into walls, and I've been busy, as usual. I was hoping the summer would see me less busy, but that has not turned out to be the case. Also, this chapter was somewhat more difficult to write for some reason. I can't really explain why. Anyhow, I hope it was worth the wait, so please, read and enjoy, and I'd love to hear your feedback, as always.

* * *

><p><strong>Incursion<strong>

John stood at his equipment locker in the cargo bay. He had gone there initially to gear up and get ready to deploy in the Mako. He had stopped, however, when he found a necklace that he had with him when he thawed. It was a necklace he had made for his mother when he was young, probably seven or eight, though he couldn't remember for sure. His mother had given it back to him before he crawled into the cryo pod, and he took it. When he thawed he never wore it again. It simply reminded him of too much. He clutched it now, palm closed. He took a deep breath, and opened his palm to reveal the crucifix that he had made two centuries ago. It consisted of two square nails to represent the nails used to crucify Christ. They intersected in a cross, and were bound together at the point of intersection by a copper twine. A simple leather string ran through a hole in the upper part of the vertical nail, allowing it to be worn as around the neck. As he looked upon the necklace for the first time in nearly seven years, his mother came to mind. All the times she'd scolded him, grounded him, held him when he'd skinned his knee, gave him advice about the first girl he'd liked. He thought of his father, the rest of his family, his friends. His cousin, who had been closer than a brother to him. Images flooded his mind of the crowd cheering when he made a big play on the basketball court, his friends, sitting around the table at Buffalo Wild Wings, laughing while the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat played in the background. Tears welled in his eyes, and he closed his hand over the cross again. He explosively threw the necklace back in his locker and slammed the door. The pain was too much. John clenched his fists and took a deep, steadying breath, trying to swallow the sobs. He ignored the looks he was getting from the others in the cargo bay. He took another breath. Move. Do something. He had to do something, or the sorrow would overwhelm him.

John strapped his breastplate on over his undershirt. He put his greaves on and slipped his gloves over his hands. Still blinking back tears, he made a mental note to buy some better armor next time they docked someplace with an arms dealer. He slipped his breather helmet over his head, and snapped his pistol to his hip and standard issue Hahne-Kedar Avenger sniper rifle to his back along with his Lancer assault rifle and Katana shotgun. He didn't particularly like carrying the shotgun, but Shepard liked for everybody to be prepared for anything. They didn't expect any combat, but Casbin's surface was uncharted, so anything could happen.

Having gathered all his gear, John moved to the Mako, where the others were waiting. Shepard nodded to him. John returned the nod. "Shepard," he said. "Garrus, Tali," he addressed the other two with a nod, which they reciprocated.

"Everybody ready to go?" Shepard asked. Everyone signaled an affirmation. "Alright, climb in then." Shepard opened the door, and John climbed into the front-right seat, which housed the engineering console, while Garrus and Tali climbed into the rear seats. John powered up the engineering terminal, bringing the diagnostics and comms online. "Get me the bridge," Shepard ordered. John obliged.

"Mako to bridge. Comm check. You read me, Joker?" he said into the console.

"I read you, Chief," Joker replied.

"What's our ETA to Casbin?" Shepard asked.

"About fifteen minutes, Commander."

"Understood. We're ready to go down here, Joker. Open the cargo door when you're ready to drop us."

"Aye aye. Bridge out."

John continued working. "Diagnostics come back clean, cap. I'm bringing the drive core online now." A faint hum built up in the back of the rover, where the mass effect core was located.

"Wait, a mass effect core? What's that for?" Garrus asked. John turned to look at him.

"You mean you guys don't know?" Garrus and Tali both shook their heads. John opened his mouth to tell them, but stopped as Shepard put a hand on his arm. John looked at him and saw a mischievous grin as he shook his head ever so slightly. John chuckled. "Guess you guys are gonna have to find out later," John said, turning around to face forward again. John took the remaining time to Casbin to show Garrus and Tali basic things about the engineering console; navigation, diagnostics, communications, drive core readings. "And all those gauges Shepard has over there," he motioned vaguely in the direction of the driver's dashboard, "you've got right here." He moved a swiveling screen that was attached to the ceiling into a position where they could see it. "Speedometer, tachometer, gas, temperature, and battery gauge." He pointed out each dial as he named it.

"Wait, a tachometer?" Tali asked. "So this thing runs on an internal combustion engine?"

"Yes, but it's cleaner than the ones you're thinking of. The old ones, like the ones old cars ran on back on Earth, were polluting machines and ran on non-renewable fossil fuels. This one runs on a much more efficient and clean horizontally opposed eight-cylinder engine and cleanly burns renewable fuel from a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell." Tali nodded seeming to understand.

"Bridge to Mako," Joker's voice crackled from John's console, "Dropping the door now," The cargo door opened as Shepard ignited the engine.

"Copy, Joker," Shepard replied. "We're deploying now. Stand by for further orders."

"Shepard," Garrus said, fear lacing his voice, "what are you doing? How do we deploy in this thing?" Shepard just grinned as he put the rover in gear and rolled forward. "Oh, spirits help me," Garrus said just before the Mako plummeted from the ship toward the planet's surface. John heard Tali screaming, and laughed, despite the feeling that his stomach was in his throat. He was prepared for it. They weren't. He waited several seconds, and when they were about ten stories above the surface he engaged the mass effect core and fusion torches underneath the vehicle. The descent slowed, and the vehicle came to a safe, albeit rough, landing on the surface of Casbin.

The cabin of the Mako was silent for a long time. The only sound was that of Garrus and Tali's heavy breathing.

"You guys are assholes," Garrus finally said. John and Shepard looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Bosh'tets," Tali muttered.

"Why didn't you say anything, John?" Garrus asked.

"Orders are orders, Garrus," John replied through his own laughter.

"Assholes," Garrus repeated. He said some more things that John's translator didn't translate, presumably turian curses.

"You guys can be mad at us later," Shepard said, "but it was damn funny. And right now we have work to do."

They rode around for several hours. As Shepard drove, John would chart the navigational data and send it back to the Normandy, where he would catalog and archive it later. Every so often he would stop and explain something to Tali and Garrus, either about the console, repairs, or general protocol in the Mako. They stopped multiple times to survey and mark mineral deposits as well.

"Watch this hole here, Shepard. It's a doozy," John told Shepard, looking at the topographical scanner as they approached a deep pothole.

"What hole? Where?" Shepard said, unable to find it without the scanner.

"Right there." John pointed at it through the display window.

"I don't see- Shit, there it is." Shepard said as he ran directly over the hole. John heard a loud pop, and the cabin of the Mako began to rattle. "What's that?" Shepard asked. John already knew, but he started up a diagnostic anyway just to check.

"Stop the Mako," he said. Shepard obliged, bringing the vehicle to a halt. The results of the diagnostic appeared on John's screen. "Ah shit, I knew it. Blew the shock."

"Is that a problem? Can we ride with a broken shock?"

"Sure, but I wouldn't recommend it. Might damage the struts or sway bars."

"Damn it." Shepard sighed. "What other options do we have then?"

"Should be a spare in the cargo compartment somewhere. I can replace it here; I've got the tools I need in there too."

"How long would that take?"

"Uh… couple hours, maybe."

"Well the radar shows the next mineral deposit is only a couple of miles away. Garrus and I can go on foot. Tali can stay with you and give you assistance."

John's heart palpitated. "I don't really need assistance…" he began.

Shepard shook his head. "I'm not leaving you alone out here."

"Okay, fine. You guys go on. I'll get to work." John opened his door and hopped out of the rover. Tali followed. As Garrus and Shepard walked away, he moved to the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk. He located the spare shock absorber and a 12 millimeter ratchet. For all the technological advances, they still used the same damn tools. He pulled out all the tools that he would need and set to work. He used the floor jack to lift the Mako of the wheel with the bad shock. He took the wheel off using the lug wrench. He lay down next to the rover and rolled underneath it and began to take the bad shock off. He would occasionally enlist help from Tali, but mostly it was a one-man job. John tried to teach her about the rover, and she would sometimes ask questions about how something worked, and he did his best to answer them, though he didn't know everything about the Mako. He was trained for starship engines, not land-based rovers. He worked, sweated, swore, when something went wrong, and laughed triumphantly when he got around it. It reminded him of when he used to work on his car. Ultimately, the job took about two hours.

Finally, John tightened the last bolt into place to secure the new shock absorber into the suspension. He rolled out from under the Mako and scooped up the old shock. He went to the trunk, where Tali was standing, and tossed it in.

"Do you need help?" Tali asked.

"Yeah if you could just pick up for me, that'd be awesome," John replied. Tali nodded and moved to where John had been working. John stood for a moment at the trunk, trying to catch his breath. Working on the Mako, or any vehicle, really, always tired him out. He watched a bead of sweat drip from his nose.

At that moment, John heard an unmistakable stuttering sound coming from behind him.

_Geth._

Recognizing the sound immediately, John turned around, pulling his assault rifle from his back as he did so, and, without even bothering to expand it, swung it with two hands like a club or a baseball bat. It connected with a geth trooper. The armor plating on its chest crumpled underneath the blow, and the unit fell, immobilized. He turned on a second geth unit, which had yet to pull its own weapon out. Apparently the geth weren't expecting hostiles. Still without expanding the rifle, he bashed the unit in the light on its head. He was rewarded with a crunch as the light was crushed and winked out. The trooper stumbled backwards, and John stepped forward, expanding his rifle and unloading on the geth. Its shields quickly failed under the hail of gunfire, and it was handily disabled. He turned around and walked up to the first geth, which was struggling to get up with its crumpled chest plate hampering the movement of its limbs. He put the barrel of his weapon to its chest, beneath its shields, and squeezed the trigger until the geth moved no more.

John let his weapon hang at his side. He stood there for a moment, confused. Why were geth here? What did they want? How had they found him? If they found John then… Oh shit! Shepard! Garrus! Had they found them yet? He had to warn them.

"Shepard do you read me?" John said loudly and urgently into his communicator.

An agonizingly long second bridged the gap. "I hear you John. What's wrong?" came the reply from Shepard. John exhaled a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding in.

"Shepard! We've got geth on this planet!" he answered as Tali rounded the corner of the Mako, shotgun out and at the ready. She balked at the sight of the geth bodies, and John held up a finger to indicate to her to wait a moment.

"What? Are you guys alright?" Shepard's voice crackled through the comm.

"We're fine. It was just two troopers. Looks like a patrol to me. Didn't seem like they were expecting hostiles either, but if they were linked with the other geth then the rest know we're here."

"Right. Hang on, we're coming back to you."

"The Mako is ready to go. I'll meet you halfway. Activate your transponder so I can see you on the radar.

"Copy. Shepard out."

Tali was still standing, dumfounded, where she came around the rover.

"How-? What the hell?" she said.

"No time! We have to get out of here." John replied, running to where the tools were. He scooped up as many as he could, then ran back to the trunk and dumped them unceremoniously into it. Tali followed suit. John frantically put the wheel back on the lug stems and tightened the nuts down on it. He lowered the vehicle off the jack, and then picked up the jack and the lug wrench and threw them into the trunk. He slammed the trunk door closed and climbed into the driver's seat of the Mako while Tali occupied the engineering seat. He fired up the engine and depressed the clutch pedal. He put the rover in gear then punched the gas pedal as he quickly released the clutch. The wheels spun for a moment before they caught traction and the Mako lurched forward.

John shifted into second gear, and allowed himself to relax somewhat. He had always preferred manual transmissions. He liked the control they offered over automatics. Or maybe it was because his first car was a stick. A five-speed 2.5 liter Subaru Impreza. That car ran like a champ. Either way, he liked that the Mako was a manual.

John geared down as he slowed. He rounded a hill, feeling the lateral acceleration pulling him toward the side of the Mako. After he came around the hill, he looked up from his tachometer to see Shepard and Garrus waving him down. He pressed the clutch and put the rover in neutral. He braked to a halt next to Shepard.

As John climbed out of the Mako, Shepard approached him. "What happened?" he asked, concern crossing his face.

"Two troopers appeared while I was finishing up. I took them down, but only because they didn't seem to be expecting me."

Shepard nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "Okay, I doubt they're the only ones on this planet. They must have some kind of base of operations somewhere."

"Agreed. I'm pretty sure I picked it up on the radar. It showed an anomaly on the planet's surface. Not dense enough to be a mineral deposit, but definitely some metal."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it didn't seem important. The radar picks up anomalies all the time. It's usually bullshit stuff. I figured we'd get to it when we got to it."

"Okay, fair enough. No point in sitting around. Everybody hop in."

Nobody said anything as they all climbed into the Mako. John brought up the radar, paired it with the topographical scan he'd made when they first landed, and pointed out to Shepard where the base was.

"You see that hill over there?" he said, pointing to a wide hill in the distance.

"Yeah."

"That's a plateau. It's up there, on the other side."

"Got it."

Shepard put the Mako in gear and they began moving. Within minutes they were approaching the base. Shepard stopped the Mako at a safe distance.

"Should we take the Mako in, or infiltrate on foot?" John asked.

"That was the very same question I was asking myself, actually," Shepard answered.

Garrus spoke up, "Commander, I suggest the Mako. It's armored, and has more firepower than we brought with us to carry in as infantry. Plus John still needs to show us combat situations in the Mako."

"Good point, Garrus."

"I try."

Shepard nodded to him. "So are we ready to go? Weapons systems okay?"

John tapped a few buttons on his terminal. "Yeah weapons diagnostics come back clean. And that shock absorber seems to be holding up fine. We should be good to go."

"Alright then. Let's do it." Shepard began driving again.

The Mako approached the geth base. As soon as it was in range, the geth opened fire on the rover. John brought his hands to bear on the gunnery controls and returned fire. The base was set up as a semicircle, with a building in the back, where the half-circle ended. Metallic barriers and sniper towers reinforced the semicircle. Geth troopers, primes, and juggernauts could be seen in gaps between the barriers. A large lump lay in the middle of the semicircle, though John couldn't tell what the lump was.

John zoomed the optics in on a prime and fired the 155-millimeter cannon. The round hit the geth directly in the chest and exploded, destroying it along with a juggernaut and two troopers that were nearby. John grinned. As much as he loved his job in engineering, he loved the rush of the fight. The thrill of combat never got old.

The Mako rocked. He looked at the heads up display and saw that it had taken a rocket. Shields were at seventy five percent. He looked up at the nearest sniper tower and saw the rocket trooper that had shot at them. He aimed his targeting reticule at the tower and fired the cannon. It exploded in the sniper perch, and the tower toppled over on top of some troopers. "Convenient," John muttered to himself. His attention shifted when the large lump in the middle of the base started moving. He watched it shift and unfold, and his eyes widened when it revealed itself to be a geth colossus. "Holy shit!" John swore, firing a round from the cannon into it as Shepard swerved to avoid the missile it launched at the Mako.

"We have to get rid of that thing!" Shepard said.

"I know! I'm working on it!" John said, peppering troopers and juggernauts around the base with the coaxial mounted machine gun while he waited for the cannon to cool sufficiently to fire again. He glanced at the heads up display. Forty five percent shields. He fired another missile into the colossus and watched it flash as its shields went down. Shepard swerved again, but this time the missile he was attempting to dodge caught the back wheel of the Mako and sent it spinning. It came to rest facing the opposite direction from the colossus. John fought back a moment of panic when he saw that the Mako's shields were down.

"Damn it! No shields!" he yelled. Shepard stomped on the throttle.

"Hang on!" he said, turning the wheel. The Mako fishtailed as he turned it back the opposite direction to face the colossus and charged toward it. John immediately realized what Shepard was going to do and fired one last rocket into the colossus before bracing himself. Shepard drove the Mako at full speed toward the colossus and collided with it, knocking it back. It collapsed, and John fired a final round from the cannon to finish it off. It exploded, and John breathed a sigh of relief. It was short-lived, however, as he heard the telltale _ping_ of geth rounds on the hull indicating that they still had no shields. Immediately John turned the machine gun on the remaining geth and opened fire. Trooper after trooper fell underneath the onslaught until the machine gun overheated. At that point, John used the cannon to blast the final group of geth to pieces.

John slouched in his chair, breathing heavily. He looked at Shepard.

"You're nuts," he said.

"Hey I didn't charge a prime on foot with nothing but a pistol!" Shepard shot back, smiling. John returned the smile.

"He has a point, John," Tali interjected.

"Maybe he does, but I didn't ram a colossus with nothing but a thin sheet of metal between me and getting blasted to oblivion!" Shepard laughed.

"Come on, we have to clear that building," he said, pulling up to the front of the building and opening his door. The rest climbed out. Shepard stood next to the door. "Standard stack and clear formation. Eyes peeled, people. We don't know what to expect. Garrus, you're on point." Garrus nodded and moved to the door. John fell in behind him, and Tali behind John. Shepard stood to the side. "Ready?" Shepard said.

"Ready," Garrus said.

"Ready," John said.

"Ready," Tali said.

"Breaching," Shepard said, waving his hand over the access panel of the door. The door opened, and Garrus moved through it. He began firing his assault rifle. John moved in behind him into a two-story atrium. It had tall crates, and pillars supported catwalks on the second floor of either side of the room. Garrus took cover behind the nearest crate. John sprayed his assault rifle at the geth in the room to give himself cover and sprinted for the nearest pillar. He leaned out from his cover and laid his finger on the trigger, giving Tali and Shepard time to find cover.

After he glanced over and saw that they were safe, John withdrew, leaning back behind his cover. He opened his omni-tool to look for heat signatures and assess the situation. He counted ten geth in the room. How they hell were they supposed to take down ten geth? Well, they did have Shepard, who was pretty much a tactical genius in a firefight. John looked around his pillar to see what they were up against. He saw seven troopers and three juggernauts, all behind various pieces of cover. Yeah, this was gonna be tough. He overloaded the shields of one trooper and watched it stumble as the electric pulse shorted out its shield battery. He disabled it with a burst from his assault rifle. Nine.

"Hey, John? Ready to charge another big-ass geth?" Shepard's voice crackled in his helmet.

"Hell yes," John replied.

"See the juggernaut behind the back pillar? Try to move up on it, flank it. If you can get rid of it, we'll have another- Damn it! Tali hack that trooper! If you can get into that position, it'll be a great firing position on the others. We'll give you cover. Wait for my go."

"Copy. Ready when you are."

"Wait for it… COVERING FIRE! Go, John!" Gunfire erupted from his squadmates, and John sprinted for the farthest pillar, where the juggernaut was hunkered down. He stopped behind the pillar, just around the corner from the juggernaut. He leaned his back against the pillar.

"I'm good, Shepard," he said into his comm. He reached around the pillar and grabbed the juggernaut by the top of its chest plate, where the gap in its armor was. He pulled as hard as he could, and the juggernaut fell over. It rolled over onto its back and pointed its weapon at him, but John kicked it and sent it skittering across the room. He turned his assault rifle around and bashed the juggernaut in its neck with the butt of his rifle. Its light flickered, but stayed on, and the unit grabbed John's leg and pulled it out from under him, making him fall over onto his back. John kicked at its head with his free leg, and this time the light on its face went out. He kicked at the arm that held onto his ankle and broke the elbow joint, but it still maintained a grip on his ankle. Desperate, he kicked at the other arm that tried to grab him. He shot a few rounds from his rifle at the broken elbow and planted his free leg on the juggernaut. He yanked his leg as hard as he could, ripping the geth's forearm free from the rest of its arm. He rolled over, coming to a kneeling position with the geth hand still gripping his leg. He overloaded the juggernaut's shields, then leveled his assault rifle on it and squeezed the trigger as it tried to get up. Rounds exploded from the barrel of his weapon, and he hammered down on the trigger in bursts until the juggernaut no longer moved. Eight. Only once he had lowered his rifle did he hear the voice in his helmet. It was Garrus.

"John! Are you alright?" John shook himself out of his stupor and took cover behind the pillar, where he had a fantastic flanking position on the rest of the geth.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just had a little trouble with the juggernaut."

"You mind giving us a hand, then?"

"Not at all." John popped out of his cover and overloaded a juggernaut's shields. He brought it down with a few bursts from his rifle just as he had done earlier. Seven. He looked around the room and noticed two extra disabled troopers. Six. Five. This fight was becoming less lopsided by the minute. Tali hacked another trooper, and Garrus took it down with his assault rifle. Four.

The remaining four geth were entrenched on the other side of the room, bunkered down behind chest-high crates that had been pushed over in between the pillars. They would occasionally expose themselves to fire at them, but they would quickly withdraw themselves before anybody could pop their shields with gunfire or drain them. John quickly realized there was no way they were going to take them down from their current positions. Shepard seemed to realize this too, as he moved out from behind his crate and began moving toward the geth's entrenched position. He indicated for John to follow with a jerk of his head. John obliged, cradling his assault rifle and moving across the atrium to the last pillar on the other side. He appeared around the corner of the pillar and saw three troopers and a juggernaut. He tossed a grenade at the juggernaut, which hadn't even seen him yet, and watched it explode, destroying the juggernaut. Three. The other geth turned to face him, then, and didn't notice Shepard appear around the far pillar. Shepard blasted the nearest trooper with his shotgun several times and it fell. Two. Disposing of the final two was simple enough. John overheated a trooper's weapon with a high voltage electric pulse. It didn't burn it, like it would an organic, but its weapon no longer functioned, which made it almost too easy for John to disable it. One. When it fell, John saw the final dead trooper behind it with Shepard, weapon still raised, standing by his pillar. Zero.

John stood upright and lowered his weapon. "Regroup in the middle," Shepard said. Tali and Garrus came out from behind their cover, and they all met in the middle of the room. "Okay, scout this place and look for any intel, tech, or anything else we can use. John and Garrus, you sweep the second floor. Me and Tali will take the first floor." John nodded, and he and Garrus moved to a staircase in a corner of the room and took it to the catwalk on the second story. The crossed the catwalk and entered a room that ran the width of the building. A terminal was mounted into the wall on the other side of the room.

"Definitely a geth terminal. I'll check it out," John said, stepping up to it. He began to sweep the terminal for any useful intel. He actually found a lot of useful intel; geth troop placements, information on the geth themselves, and what he suspected was the reason they were in Alliance space. It was all encrypted, though, so John would have to bring it all back to the Normandy to decode it. He transferred the data to his omni-tool and reported back to Shepard.

"Found a lot of useful intel in a terminal upstairs, cap," he said.

"Good. Bring it back to the ship," Shepard said. "I want it in my report."

"Yes sir."

* * *

><p>"You're telling me that you found geth on Casbin, Commander?" Admiral Hackett's image spoke from the screen in the comm room on the Normandy.<p>

"Yes sir," Shepard replied. "A patrol stumbled across my chief engineer while he was fixing our rover, and he found their base of operations. We infiltrated and eliminated all of the geth inside."

"Did you find any clue about what the hell geth were doing in Alliance space?"

"Nothing immediate, sir. But John, my chief engineer, he found some encrypted data in a terminal. He thinks it may have something useful."

"Get it to me. I want to know what the geth were planning."

"My guess is preparation for an invasion, sir."

"Let's hope not. But we won't know for sure until I see that data."

"John's working on decoding it now.

"Understood. Include it in your full report, which I look forward to reading."

Shepard saluted. "Yes sir."

The admiral nodded. "Hackett out," he said before the comm screen blinked out of existence.

* * *

><p>Tali stepped out of the elevator onto the crew deck. She had no idea where John was, but she wanted to ask him about something. She searched the crew deck, but didn't find him. She saw Kaidan, though, so she asked him, "Have you seen John? I needed to talk to him."<p>

"Oh, yeah he came through here earlier. Went up to the CIC, said he got tired of 'being in the freaking engine room' all the time," Kaidan responded, using his fingers to quote John. He chuckled, and Tali smiled.

"Okay, thank you," she said before turning on her heel to go up the stairs to the CIC. She ascended the stairs and looked through the CIC. She finally found John sitting in the copilot's seat next to Joker. "Getting tired of being in the freaking engine room?" she asked. He turned to look at her and smiled.

"Yes," he replied with finality. "You know how much I'm in there? And it's not cuz I love to be in there like you."

"Hey, you know how much I'm in this pilot seat? It's not cuz I wanna be here all the time," Joker chimed in.

"Bullshit, Joker. You love flying. I don't care if you got creaky legs." John said.

"Eh, granted," Joker conceded. Tali laughed at the banter. The cockpit grew quiet, and Tali decided it was as good a time as any to ask.

"Hey, John, can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Yeah sure," John replied. Tali hesitated.

"Um, in private?" John gave her a meaningful look. He moved to get up but Joker held up a hand to stop him.

"Hey, don't bother getting up. I gotta take a piss anyway," he said, gingerly pulling himself out of his seat before limping away. John stood up and faced Tali.

"What's wrong?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about that geth data you found on Casbin."

"Oh," John replied, seeming to grow uncomfortable. "Okay, what's up?"

Tali took a deep breath then took the plunge. "Do you think I can have a copy of it?" she asked. John blinked in surprise.

"What for?" he asked. _Oh no. He's going to turn me down._

"Well, I was hoping I could use it for my Pilgrimage gift." John blinked again. "It would mean a lot for my people. It would help us understand the geth. I know it's classified military data, but… Keelah, John, it could even put us back on the homeworld." Tali's voice grew desperate as she tried to explain to John why she wanted it.

John was silent for a long time, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Tali," he began meaningfully, "I-"

"Shepard to bridge. Joker, do you know where the hell John is?" Shepard's voice emanated from the pilot's interface, cutting John off. John turned around.

"Joker had to take a leak, cap, but I'm here. What do you need?"

"John, meet me in the comm room, and bring whatever part of that geth data you have decoded."

"Yes sir," John replied. He reached over to the copilot's terminal, where he'd been working, and pulled out an OSD from its console. He turned back to Tali and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll talk about this later, Tali. Promise," he said before removing his hand walking away toward the comm room. Tali sighed. She stayed in the cockpit until Joker returned. She told him where John had gone, and then left to return to the engine room.


End file.
